“Sometimes we have 10 to 18 nurses running and we just wait for each other,” said Kelly Wilson, a registered nurse working in the neonatal intensive care unit in Kaiser Permanente Downey. “It’s like a cheerful team.”
But the “excited troop” would not have existed without its unofficial leader, the man who greets them every day after their shift: security officer Robert Johnson.
For nurses, Johnson, a 58-year-old former Marine, the human embodiment of a peep rally, greets them with enthusiasm and positivity after a long night to treat people in a lifelong fight against a persistent virus.
Admitting that some days are harder than others, Wilson acknowledged, “We have a lot of things thrown at us at times where we work all the time on stress levels.” “Maybe some people feel overwhelmed by quitting work, and it gives (Johnson) extra energy to be positive.”
Johnson said he feels it is his duty to raise the spirits of those around him and remind these frontline workers of the difference they are making.
“These are people who are taking time out of their lives, coming here, putting most of their time here to work.” “And for that I show a lot of admiration. That’s why I try to bring out a smile. See what you did!”
The nurses can’t wait to see him
When the epidemic hit Southern California, the hospital adjusted its protocols and brought Johnson to safety work overnight.
The cheerful ritual began when Jones decided to change the question of standard Covid-19 screening, when he asks nurses before they are admitted to the hospital. He tried on a nurse first.
“I said, ‘Do you feel great today?’ And the first nurse said, ‘No,’ “Johnson said.” She understood what I said because she was expecting something. She said, ‘Yes!’
Then, after seeing that nurse bright smile, Johnson started asking everyone the same question.
Johnson’s positive attitude began to spread rapidly.
“I think it was a month in it, it was running continuously, and there was a conversation about it in our unit,” Wills said. “Colleagues were like, ‘Oh, man! I can’t wait to get off work and see that guy!’ One nurse described it. She was like, ‘This is my cup of coffee for work at my ride home.’
Now, Johnson describes his interactions with nurses as “partying.”
“I just tell you, when they come out, you think we’re throwing a party. It’s a celebration!” Said Johns. “Another nurse can give me a bump this way and I bump that way. One doctor danced a little and bumped. Everyone is coming out with a different way of greeting.”
Spreading positivity every day
For Johnson, joy comes naturally.
“If I look at my life, I can’t name a day that I’m frustrated. Not one. I’ve always had a positive attitude,” Jones said. “The Marine Corps taught me that there are no problems in life. You only have challenges that you can overcome.”
He keeps this positive outlook even though he doesn’t get much sleep.
He is in the hospital from midnight to 8 a.m. then he will move on to his second job, working with disabled adults until noon. On Friday, after shifting to the hospital, he works in the group home until 11pm on Sunday night. It gives him enough time to return to the hospital again at midnight on Monday, where he is in a position to stimulate the spirits of the workers ahead of him with his contagious energy.
“The only negative effect I can see is that I’ve gone from a brown hair to about four now,” Jones said with a chuckle.
On weekdays, he goes home after work to work part-time with his wife of 36 years.
“We’re still on our honeymoon,” he said, smiling aloud as he slept anywhere from two to six hours a day. “When I like what I do, I don’t work.”
Nurses highly appreciate Johnson that they awarded him the “BJE Award”, “to be extraordinary every day”.
“It’s amazing how little sleep he gets and stays positive,” Wilson said.
But Johnson believes admiration is a two-way street.
“We’re talking about the impact I’ve had on nurses. What about how nurses affect me?” Said Johns. “When they come out with a big smile, it gives me more energy. Let’s go!”
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